Meg Xuemei X - Angel’s Mate (The Empress Of Mysth #6) Read online

  Was I the daughter and he the son, the mighty warrior who carried black lightning on his massive wings?

  Could he be the Sky Power, or did he possess it?

  The mysterious voice resonated in my skull: The Sky son and Earth daughter must become one flesh again.

  Again? What did that mean?

  Flesh.

  Flesh and blood. The Sky Power could be a person instead of a power source. I was the Earth daughter, as everyone called me, and if Seth was the Sky Power, then our joining would subvert the angels’ invasion and bring back hope to Earth—according to the Dragonian oracle and Mysthian prophecy.

  Mysth would be saved. My people would not go extinct.

  Become one flesh.

  A male and a female became one flesh through mating. Which meant Seth and I had to have sex to fulfill the prophecy.

  And then we could take on the Forbidden Glory together.

  And then we could defeat the angels.

  But wait! Wasn’t Seth an angel and the mighty, forbidden high prince of them all?

  Had I become so pathetic that I kept finding excuses to be with him?

  Too bad, I shouted at myself. He no longer wants you.

  But I wasn’t one to lick my own wounds, so I told myself, despite shame and rage slapping at my teeth, I don’t give a shit if he wants me or not. The angel will never get to fuck me.

  PRINCE SETH

  The eyes of the Lord of All Angels alighted on me from the other side of the universe.

  I’d been so wrapped up with Rose and blinded by my own burning desire that I had forgotten that one of the most lethal predators lurked there, monitoring me. I had forgotten to stay alert.

  My lord father had never trusted anyone. He wouldn’t want me to become a force that would compete against him one day, even though I was his favorite warrior son. So when my powers kept growing, especially these few centuries, I’d been carefully hiding them.

  But I had shown my fatal vulnerability in front of him for the first time because of a nineteen-year-old fey princess.

  My father had put it plainly that I couldn’t have her before Agro raped her, before I drained her and left her an empty shell if a spark of Earth elemental magic popped out of her.

  If I disobeyed and challenged my father, he would punish us both in the most unthinkable, horrible way.

  I still wanted Rose more than I had wanted anything.

  But I had to let her go.

  Since I couldn’t resist her, then I had to stay away.

  One more week, then she would go to her wedding and her doom. My father would make sure of that, and there was nothing I could do. I would leave this planet and be free of her grip and my pain. Her scent would never reach me again and make my cock ache.

  I would return to being the icy high prince. I wouldn’t feel again, but I would remain invincible and fearsome. I would lose myself on the battlefields in new galaxies. I would keep sweeping through the universe and conquering, as I’d always done.

  After I formed my decision and adjusted my new course at my lord father’s warning, I saw Princess Rose a few times. She tried to catch my eye and wanted to talk, but I wasn’t warm and kind. She was puzzled at first, and beneath it, I saw her disguised hurt.

  I told myself to harden my heart.

  It didn’t take long for rage to burn in her eyes when I dismissed her as if she were nothing. She soon returned the favor and put on a mask of indifference. She then didn’t even bother to send a glance my way.

  I had expected this, yet her new iciness still hurt me more than I’d expected.

  While I tasted my own bitter medicine, I ordered myself not to breathe in her scent, no matter how starved I was for it.

  My cock remained hard for her all the time.

  I knew with regret that I had stifled the budding tenderness between us.

  PRINCESS ROSE

  The High Prince of Pricks and I were on non-speaking terms.

  Like I gave a shit if he was talking.

  While I kept myself busy chasing the ghost of the Sky Power and plotting to bomb the angels’ vault, King Agro requested me to present myself before all the Earth rulers of the conquered nations by attending the dance in the great hall tonight.

  Didn’t the king know it was too early for this dance since the ceremony was still a month away? Did he act on a whim or was something else going on? I had to find out.

  I arrived at the great hall.

  Moonbeams shone through the arched ceiling, creating an illusion of light and shadow; red lanterns hung on the marble columns of gold and blue. Red was the Earth color for cerebration.

  The mortal rulers waited in line before the dais in order to dance with me. Every male in the room seemed to want to feel me in their arms before I finally belonged to the angel king. On this occasion, according to the custom, I couldn’t reject any of them, so I danced with one after another.

  Their every touch made my skin crawl, yet I endured.

  In the entire hall, there was only one whose touch didn’t make me cringe, but he had no intention of getting near me.

  The Prince of All Jerks constantly changed partners, until he twirled with Victoria, the one who had almost gutted me in the throne room.

  The two deserved each other anyway. They were both my enemies. For the moment, I couldn’t tell which one I despised more.

  Victoria hung onto the prince, her arm curving around his neck. Her big, creamy boobs that half-popped out of her tight red dress bumped against his chest. And his hand rested cozily on her bare back—the angels had all concealed their wings tonight.

  The angel prince had had countless lovers before he’d lost his appetite. Had Victoria been one of his old flames? Their species had no moral code. It wouldn’t surprise me that the brothers shared the same female. Hadn’t the prince tried desperately to get into my pants while I was promised to the king?

  In the end, he only proved to be worse than his sadist brother, and dirtier. How could I have even let him fondle me?

  Vertigo hit me at the brutal knowledge that I’d almost let him enter me.

  As soon as I returned to my suite after this insufferable dance, I would scratch off every inch of my skin that he’d touched. Ten times and more.

  The despicable pair danced to a new tune, not wanting to be apart for a second, while I changed partners. The king’s mistress wanted the prince. It was no secret that the high prince was way more powerful than his brother.

  She rested her face against the prince’s jaw and he seemed to hold his breath, as if dazed by her scent. Could it arouse him as much as mine had once done?

  She was a great beauty among angels. She was also powerful, cruel, and lustful—exactly his type. And she was his own species. After my wedding, he would leave Earth, and his new bitch would accompany him to the next world and rule with him.

  I hated to admit that they looked compatible. They would probably go to bed tonight and plan on murdering me. What a sweet couple!

  My gaze left them, and I swallowed the bile on my tongue as if it were honey.

  Pain would pass. Sorrow would pass. Passions would pass quicker.

  Only time stood forever. And I would make sure that Mysth and my people stood in time forever while the angels were a passing phase for my planet.

  My cold smile dropped as I flirted with every one of my dancing partners and laughed at their boring jokes. I giggled and wheeled, telling myself that I didn’t give a damn who the asshole danced with and who he would take to bed tonight.

  Go rot in hell, pig.

  I transformed myself into the delightful future bride.

  A pair of stormy grey eyes bored into me. I could feel his fury across the dance floor. He’d once showered me with his smoldering fire. Now in its ash rose the sparks. Could I still have a residual effect on him?

  I widened my sweet smile toward the Earth kings and noble angels, whoever I danced with. I twirled like a merry princess from the fairy land. I was the fai
ry princess.

  The high prince moved into my line of sight. His scent of pine and leather and male musk hit my nostrils. I couldn’t avoid his glare since he was now facing me, so I flashed him a delightful smirk and winked at him, knowing that would irk him more than showing him a vulgar gesture.

  I at once shifted my attention back to my current partner.

  I almost jumped as I saw that my new partner was a blue-skinned Dragonian, the figurehead commander who served the angels.

  I didn’t miss a beat and bestowed him a dazzling smile. North would kill him one day for his alliance with the angels. The commander blinked at my affection. The Dragonian coveted us, and this pawn was no exception. We Mysthians had been distancing ourselves from the mortals. But today, I, their princess, pretended to favor this Dragonian for a reason.

  The angel prince had been enraged when he thought North and I were an item. I would show him now what an item meant in action.

  My hands moved from the Dragonian’s shoulders to clasp around his thick neck. Elated, he pulled me closer, his hand tightening on my bare back, forgetting who might be watching us in the angel king’s grand hall. At my hint of a dancing move, he gladly bent me over.

  I saw the star-streaked sky above my face, and I thought of the night sky in the twilight realm. To keep my beloved kingdom the way it was forever, I wouldn’t hesitate to level Atlantis.

  When this city burned, the Prince of Angels would be in it.

  The hand on my back was gone suddenly, yet I did not fall. Another hand of different feel and temperature had replaced the Dragonian’s.

  Who dared to cut in and spoil my fun in pissing off the High Prince of All Angels—the asshole number one?

  An electric current sent a tingling pleasure down my spine. The scent of pine and—

  What the hell?

  I stared into Seth’s face as he lifted me up.

  PRINCE SETH

  Her beauty shone in the great hall. It hurt just to look at her.

  The Princess of Mysth wore a blue gown with open sides tied by thin strings, exposing a generous part of her breasts. The splits of the dress reached high at her thighs, showing off her long, golden legs.

  I growled whenever I caught any male’s eyes roving over her and savoring her curves—the Earth’s legendary beauty was shamelessly showing plenty of her skin.

  My cock was too hard, and I hated to acknowledge that other males also had a hard-on for her.

  I was the only one who wore a long trench coat on the dancing floor. It concealed my erection. Since I was one of the most powerful angels, my eccentricity was acceptable and sometimes copied.

  The fey princess, on the other hand, should have dressed more modestly and acted demurely. Didn’t they say that Mysthians regarded propriety as gold?

  It wasn’t enough for her to wear such a provocative dress: she laughed frequently and flirted with every male in the hall, attracting them like insects.

  While she purred and smiled at them, she barely spared me a glance, even when I chose to dance with Victoria.

  Victoria was surprised and gleeful and soon aroused. Her scent repelled me, and I had to breathe through my mouth.

  Rose sent a glance of indifference our way, then no longer bothered. She was having fun playing fancy moves with a Dragonian commander. That idiot looked pathetically smitten, and then I remembered that the fey princess had risked her life to see the Dragonian rebel leader.

  Maybe she did have a thing for the blue-skinned creatures, despite the rumor that said the Mysthians despised them.

  Dark rage shot into me.

  Earth was full of damned liars!

  The princess gazed up at the Dragonian through her thick lashes and bestowed him a lover’s sensual smile that could make any male have an instant hard-on.

  I gritted my teeth, and my hand on Victoria’s back formed a fist. I would yank the Dragonian’s heart out!

  Victoria purred as dark power rolled off me.

  And when that fucker bent the princess over, I lost it.

  I lunged.

  A primal male instinct roared in me. She’s mine! My lamb. Mine!

  I would slaughter every male in the room if they dared touch her again.

  I dragged the Dragonian commander away from Rose and shoved him toward Victoria. They both looked shocked.

  The enraged Dragonian calmed the next second when he saw it was me who took the Mysthian princess from him. He wheeled Victoria away from me, and the king’s bitch looked like she wanted to eat Rose’s heart.

  I’d just done what I had specifically ordered myself not to do.

  I’d thought I could handle watching her dance and flirt and smile with other males. I’d thought I could bear to see their hands on her bare back. I’d believed that I could rein in my lust and keep my cool head since I’d decided to discard her. I’d never been one who couldn’t make up his mind and follow it up.

  I’d convinced myself that my lust for the fey girl would eventually pass.

  Until now, when I realized what I felt for Rose was more than lust. I’d fallen for her. It was like free fall without the wings, yet I could no longer to stop the plummet.

  The princess’s whisky brown eyes stared into mine, ice frosting in them. The sexy feline smiles she’d freely given to all of the males dispersed like the last ray of the winter sun. Facing me, she was glacier, its cold fury whipping at me.

  She’d acted indifferently seeing me dance with Victoria, while in fact she’d been infuriated.

  Did she feel betrayed or was it jealousy?

  Was she as possessive toward me as I was toward her?

  Rose shoved me away with a great force to get to the next partner, but I grabbed her, holding her tightly in my arms. I was going nowhere.

  “I see you were having a good time dancing with every other male,” I said sourly. “Enjoy the variety?”

  “Very much,” she said, “until now. Get your claws off me.”

  I snarled, baring my teeth in a warning.

  She snarled back and pushed again, but I wrapped an arm around her waist.

  “Would you rather make a scene?” I said in a low voice. My determined look and iron grip showed her that nothing could stop me and that I would do anything except let her go.

  “What do you want?” she asked, becoming another Rose—the fey princess who would bleed me dry without blinking.

  The unyielding enmity in her eyes told me that I had made an irrevocable mistake in dancing with Victoria. I hadn’t realized Rose could be as territorial as I. However, when jealousy hit me, my first move was to remove any male between us. The princess, on the contrary, lashed out at me as if I was the source of the trouble.

  Then you should never make your female jealous! my male instinct yelled at me.

  My lamb had little sharp teeth. She had once bitten me and bled me when I had forced a kiss on her.

  Now that I had her—no matter how unwilling and spiteful she was in my arms—I could never let her get away again.

  “I have something important to tell you, Rose,” I said, “but obviously you aren’t interested since you’re feeling vindictive.” Then I regretted chiding her. Diplomacy, Seth.

  “Vindictive or not,” she hissed, “I have no care for your tales and dirty secrets.”

  “So it did bother you that I danced with Victoria?”

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” she said with venom. “Dance with whoever you want. And I don’t give much thought either about who you take to bed these days or who you’ll fuck tonight. Just try not to plan my murder with your bitches, because if you do, you’ll curse the day you were ever born.”

  So she’d felt jealous, and it had brought out this dark rage. If she had had a dagger in hand, she would have stabbed me in the eye. However, I felt only satisfaction at her insane jealousy. It calmed the wild beast in me.

  “I haven’t been with any female for millennia, or since I met you.” I pulled her closer, despite her subtle struggle. S
he wouldn’t want to bring the court’s attention to her either. “These two days I sought female companions in order to get my lord father off my back. He’s been watching us. He knows I desire you and was concerned that I would fail in my task. My father has a new plan for you.”

  She peered into my eyes suspiciously to see if I was up to no good and lying. I met her sharp gaze and let her decide the truth for herself.

  “A bad plan, I guess?” She swallowed.

  “Not in your favor,” I said.

  Dark light flashed in her eyes. “If he’s watching, why are you still dancing with me?”

  “His eyes aren’t on us right now,” I said. “I can sense him. I’ll know the moment he turns his gaze on me.”

  I had to remain alert at all times from now on, even when I was with Rose, especially when I was with her, no matter how distracting and irresistible she was.

  She arched an eyebrow. “Another hidden talent of yours?”

  “I have many,” I said as I made her do a small twirl before a big one and then pulled her back. “And I’ve succeeded in diverting my father's attention from you by boring him and myself to death while entertaining those females.”

  “What’s your next move then after you bored your father and properly pleased your fans?” she asked.

  “I’m letting you go, Rose,” I said.

  “Thank you,” she said coldly, completely untouched.

  This fey female had no heart. I had just told her that I wouldn’t hold her to her bargain and wouldn’t fuck her. Shouldn’t she feel sad, angry, or even cheerful? She made me want to slam my lightning into her and stir some feelings from her.

  As my hand added weight on her bare back, emotion wheeled back into her eyes.

  “What do you mean exactly by letting me go?” she asked.

  “You’ll be free,” I said. “I won’t allow anyone, not even my lord father, to slay my lamb.”

  She shivered. “Speak no riddles, Prince.”

  “Meet me at the Spring Hall after the dance,” I whispered in her ear.

  She shuddered again, this time from the pleasure caused by my intentional breath on her earlobe. The rigidity left her soft, warm body; the enmity in her eyes also vanished.